Dr. Vlasta Begović, scientific advisor

Born in Zagreb in 1950, where she went to school and in 1973 graduated from the Faculty of Architecture. As a student she participated in archaeological investigations of Diocletian's palace in Split, organised by the Urban Planning Institute of Dalmatia and the University of Minnesota (USA). In 1976 she completed her post-graduate specialisation “Conservation of Historic Buildings” at the University of York in England. In 1979 she completed her post-graduate studies in “Architectural Conservation of Monuments and Sites” at UNESCO/ICCROM in Rome and in 1988 “Protection of Built Heritage“ in the Centre for Built Heritage in Split. She received her Master’s degree in architecture and urban planning in 1991 from the Faculty of Architecture in Zagreb, with a thesis entitled “Rectification of the plans of a Roman villa in Verige bay on Brijuni”. She received her PhD in Social Sciences, Humanities and Theological Studies in 1993 from the Department of Archaeology at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb with the thesis “Architecture of Classical Antiquity on Brijuni”.

In 1974 she started working at the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments in Zagreb, where she worked on the following tasks: architectural measurement, development of a project for reviving the fortress in Slavonski Brod, including a presentation project; architectural supervision of renovation works on Ban Jelačić Square in Zagreb; archaeological investigations of the Brijuni islands and the maritime villa on Vižula, Medulin; underwater archaeological investigations of Drevine near Dubrovnik; Pakleni archiplago, St. Clemens, Izmetište; Šćedro island; Stari Stani near the island of Hvar; Gušteranski near Šibenik; Unije port on the island of Unije; the ports of Vis and Komiža on the island of Vis; Palmižana, St. Clemens near Hvar; Verige Bay and Madona Bay on Brijuni islands. She managed the investigations of the maritime villa in Verige Bay, Brijuni. She worked on the documentation of the private archaeological collections Meneghello, Kamenić, Prdrini and Borčić. She was head of the 2nd instance appeals committee. Since 1978 she has been a delegated member of the Council for Remote Sensing of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts.

In 1991 she started working at the Ministry of Education and Culture in Zagreb as a senior advisor. She dealt with issuing building and use permits in protected urban areas and on cultural monuments and sites, especially the historical urban complex of Dubrovnik; she was head of a 2nd instance appeals committee and was a cultural heritage protection inspector.

She joined the Institute of Archaeology in 2000. She was head of the project of the Ministry of Science, Education and Sport entitled “The Archaeological Topography of Croatia in Classical Antiquity” (2002-2006, 2007- 2013). She took part in the archaeological investigations of the Roman maritime villa on Katoro near Umag, the maritime villa Loron near Poreč, the maritime villa in the Soline bay on the island of St. Clemens and on the site Brezno, Mali Tabor near Hum na Sutli. She is a member of the Croatian Archaeological Society, the Archaeological Institute of America, the Association of Croatian Architects, the European Archaeological Association, the International Union of Women Architects (UIFA) and the Association for the Protection of Fortresses in Croatia. She has been an invited lecturer since 1996, and from 2006 to 2010 she taught the course “Introduction to Architecture” at the Art History Department of the University of Rijeka Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences.

Since 2011 she has held the title of scientific advisor at the Institute of Archaeology. In 2014, together with the National University Library in Zagreb, she organised the international scientific conference “Protection of Cultural Heritage from Natural and Man-made Disasters“, in co-operation with the Meteorological and Hydrological Service and the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of the University of Zagreb.

Her research interests include archaeological topography, classical period architecture, especially Roman villas, and remote sensing and projects for the protection and presentation of archaeological sites.